


C'mon, Spider-Man

by imbeccacile



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 16:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11948043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbeccacile/pseuds/imbeccacile
Summary: Peter figures out how awful and real nightmares are. Luckily, Tony is there to help him through it.





	C'mon, Spider-Man

**Author's Note:**

> just some cute Tony and Peter because he definitely dreams about the time when he was stuck under the rubble.

_ Peter can’t breathe. _

 

_ When he realizes this, it only makes it harder for him to breathe. His breaths become shallow and more gasping, and after a few tries of pushing the large piece of rubble off of him, he starts to cry. He can’t do this, he can’t get out, he’ll be stuck down here... _

 

_ “Hello?” he screams, hysterical now. “Please! I-I’m down here! I’m stuck, I can’t move, I…” he trails off, trying to calm his breathing. He can’t die down here, Mr. Stark is counting on him. He can’t leave Aunt May; she would be heartbroken. And what about Ned? He has to get out, he has to stop the Vulture from hurting anyone else. _

 

_ Everything hurts. He’s stuck. He’s not ready to die… _

 

Peter sat bolt upright, screaming, gripping the edge of his blanket so tightly his knuckles were white. His breaths were coming out shallow, but as he looked around with wide eyes, he realized he wasn’t stuck at all. He was on the couch in Mr. Stark’s lab.

 

“Hey, you’re okay, kid,” Tony was kneeling in front of the couch, brows furrowed as he watched him closely.

 

The boy was shaking, trying to calm his breathing before anything else, but despite all that, he looked Tony in the eye and swallowed the lump in his throat. He would not cry. Not in front of Mr. Stark. “H-Hey, hi, Mr. Stark,” he whispered, letting go of the blanket, but still not relaxing, despite the fact that he was just dreaming, and that he was safe. He wondered if what he saw on Mr. Stark’s face was...worry.

 

“Pretty bad dream, huh?” the other asked after a moment, staying where he was so that he was a little bit lower than Peter’s eye-level. “Welcome to the glamorous life of a superhero,” he muttered, patting the boy’s knee. 

 

Peter blinked, then nodded slightly, and, realizing he was holding his breath, let it out slowly. “I-It...just seemed so real,” he said incredulously, looking down at his lap. Tony nodded, dropping his gaze, too.

 

“I know,” he replied, with gentleness Peter didn’t think he had ever heard come from him. “But you’re safe now. That’s what matters.” The boy thought for a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists. He was quiet for a long time, and Tony didn’t say anything else, letting him think.

 

“You...You get dreams too, Mr. Stark?” he asked hesitantly, and blinked in surprise as Tony actually chuckled a little, albeit bitterly, as he shook his head.

 

“Oh, yeah. We all get them. If you didn’t, we’d be worried you weren’t human.”

 

Peter supposed that made sense. Now that his initial panic was gone, and tears weren’t threatening to fall anymore, he sat up a bit, clearing his throat. “S-Sorry, Mr. Stark.”

 

“What are you apologizing for?” he asked, standing up fully, a few bones along his spine cracking. He shook his head. “Dreams are scary, kid; I don’t make the rules, and neither do you.”

 

The boy watched the older man for a moment, studying him. Tony looked...exhausted. Dark circles under his eyes, lines along his face that made him look older than he was, and hair that stood on end. Peter wondered how he had never noticed it before. Mr. Stark didn’t get enough sleep, and it didn’t take a genius to guess why. Though, now that he just had one of his own, he supposed that he understood the power of nightmares a little more. 

 

“You still with me, Pete?” Tony questioned, having now sit down and was looking at the boy curiously. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry…” He threw the blanket off of him - had he had this when he fell asleep? - and stood up, walking over to join Tony at the desk. “What’re you working on?”

 

“Just a few more improvements to our suits. Especially yours,” he added, pointing at Peter with the tip of his pen, and then began scribbling something on an already-full piece of paper. “I was explaining part of it earlier, but it seems I was too boring for you.” 

 

Peter’s face flushed pink, shaking his head slightly. “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I didn’t-”

 

“It’s fine, kid. I figured you haven’t been getting much sleep lately, anyway.”

 

Peter let out a sigh of relief, and...was it just him, or did Tony have a slight smirk on his face? He must have put the blanket on him, he realized, and his face flushed again.

 

He was silent, letting Tony work. Now that he was wide awake, not too keen on going back to sleep, he was fascinated at how fast Tony could work even if he did look like a mess. Biting his bottom lip, he looked up, hesitating a moment.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Tony didn’t glance up, but he raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’re you thanking me for?”

 

Peter thought for a moment, then shrugged. He didn’t really know. “Everything.”

 

Tony smiled.


End file.
